The decks cannot be flushed, for there is no
place for the men to go while it is being done. There are many delicate
problems on such a ship. If another ship should be sighted, the men must not
crowd to one side, for that would throw too great a weight on one side of the
ship and might even endanger her. Our cargo is men and it must be shifted with
care.
Every day there is boat drill. The alarm
sounds, and after the first day of pandemonium the men go quietly to their
stations. There are so many problems to be faced on a troopship.
SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND, June 23, 1943—A
troopship is a strange community and it reacts as a community. It is unique,
however, in that it is cut off from all the world and that it is in constant
danger of being attacked and destroyed. No matter how casual the men seem, that
last fact is never very far from their minds. In the water any place may be the
submarine and any moment may come the blast that sends the great ship to the
bottom.
Thus the gunners never relax, the listening
devices are tense and occupied. Half the mind listens and waits all the time
and in the night small sounds take on a large importance. At intervals the
guns are fired to see that they are in perfect condition. The gunnery officer
never relaxes. On the bridge the captain sleeps very rarely and takes his
coffee in his hand.
Under such a strain the human brain reacts
curiously. It builds its apprehensions into realities and then repeats those
realities. Thus a troopship is a nest of rumors, rumors that go whisking from
stem to stern, but the most curious thing is that on all troopships the rumors
are the same. Some generalized picture takes shape in all of them. The story
starts and is repeated, and everyone, except perhaps the permanent crew,
believes each for a few hours before a new one takes its place. It might be
well to set down some of the rumors so that when heard they will be recognized
for what they are, the folklore of a troopship.
The following are heard on every troopship,
without exception; further, they are believed on every troopship:
1. This morning we were sighted by a submarine.
It could not catch us, but it radioed its fellows and now a pack is assembling
ahead of us to intercept us and sink us. This rumor is supposed to come from
the radio officer, who heard the submarine calling its brothers. The pack will
close in on us tonight. All of these rumors are said to come from a responsible
officer.
